1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of seamless capture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus performing continuous capture during recording real-time data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Nowadays, video recorders can basically be grouped into the analog type, such as a tape video recorder, and the digital type, such as a compact disk (CD) and a digital video/versatile disk (DVD) video recorder etc., according to the recorded data formats and the use of storage media. Generally speaking, a digital video recorder performs better than an analog one in providing image and sound quality. One of the reasons is that the capacity of storage media used for digital video recorders is far bigger than those used for analog recorders. Hence, the storage media used for the digital video recorders, such as CD disks and DVD disks etc., can be used to record much more data for enhancing the qualities of images and the articulation of sound as well to extend the recording time.
However, a recorded program sometimes outruns the recording time and makes a storage medium full although the storage medium has a larger capacity. For example, a user may want to record a live TV program with data amounts that exceed the capacity of the possible storage media such as videotape cassettes, CD disks or DVD disks, etc. In this situation, the user needs to stop the video recorder from capturing the program while the storage medium is full, replacing the full storage medium with a new formatted one, and then resumes the video recorder capturing action thereafter. By doing so, the program exceeding the capacity of the storage medium can be just carried on recording. But, the problem is that real-time data is lost during exchanging the storage medium. Furthermore, the issue in a digital video recorder is worse than that of an analog one since the storage medium, such as a CD disk or a DVD disk, needs to be finalized when it is full. Hence, real-time data is totally lost during performing the action of finalizing and exchanging the storage medium.
As shown in FIG. 1, a schematic block diagram for recording continuous real-time data is illustrated. An encoder 100 encodes the captured video data 101 and audio data 102 into a video/audio program stream 103. The video/audio program stream 103, then, is transformed into a disk file format 104 by a disk authoring 110, so that the disk file format 104 can be recorded on a disk 130 via a disk writer 120. However, the continuous real-time data exceeding the capacity of the disk 130 is lost during the disk 130 being full, finalized and exchanged until a new disk is inserted and the recording action is resumed. In other words, this situation causes discontinuous recording between the disk 130 and the new disk.
Another schematic block diagram for recording continuous data is shown in FIG. 2A. An encoder 100 encodes the captured video data 101 and audio data 102 into a video/audio program stream 1031. The video/audio program stream 1031, then, is temporarily stored in a hard disk buffer 140. The two processes are kept going until the whole video data 101 and audio data 102 are captured and encoded into the video/audio program stream 1031 and stored in the hard disk buffer 140. Similarly, the video/audio program stream 1031 is transformed into a disk file format 104 by a disk authoring 110 and then the disk file format 104 is recorded on a disk 130 through a disk writer 120 while a recording action is started. By following these procedures, the continuous real-time data exceeding the capacity of the disk 130 is not lost while the disk 130 is full, finalized and exchanged. This is because all the data is already temporarily stored in the hard disk buffer 140 before any recording action has been started. However, the whole procedure takes more time than a real-time recording procedure does since the recording action in the procedure does not simultaneously work with the capturing action. Therefore, the disk authoring 110 and the disk writer 120 are idle until all the data being stored in the hard disk buffer 140 and the recording action being started.
Still another schematic block diagram for recording continuous data is shown in FIG. 2B. Most processes in FIG. 2B are similar to those in FIG. 2A. The difference is that a video/audio program stream 103 is not directly stored in a hard disk buffer 140 but after being transformed into a disk file format 1041 by a disk authoring 110. Similarly, the first three processes are kept going until the whole video data 101 and audio data 102 are captured, encoded and transformed into the disk file format 1041 and stored in the hard disk buffer 140. Then, the disk file format 1041 is recorded on a disk 130 through a disk writer 120 while the recording action is started. However, the change in FIG. 2B still does not reduce the time in the whole procedure since the recording action does not work with the capturing action in real time.
In view of the drawbacks mentioned with the prior art of continuously recording real-time data, there is a continued need to develop new and improved method and apparatus that overcome the disadvantages associated with the prior art of continuously recording real-time data. The advantages of this invention are that it solves the problems mentioned above.